Biological Anthropology

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Biological Anthropology

• Introduction to Biological Anthropology

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What is Anthropology?

• Anthropo

• logy

• from the Greek
• anthropos - ?????p??
• meaning man man-faced a human being

• from the Greek
• legein - ????
• meaning to speak

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The Study of or Science of

• bios logy the study of bios (life)
• geo logy the study of geo (earth)
• psykhe ology the study of psykhe (breath,
  spirit, soul)
• theos logy the study of theos (God)

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Four-Field Anthropology

• Cultural Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Biological (or Physical) Anthropology

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Cultural Anthropology

• Focuses on the role culture plays in human life
• Culture is
• Learned by individuals as they grow up within a
  group
• The primary means by which a human is
  enculturated into his/her culture
• Passed on from generation to generation
• Constantly changing

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Three Components of Culture

• Material
• Behavioral
• Ideational

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Archaeology

• Focuses on human life in the past
• Humans of the past
• Relied on their cultures to adapt
• Shared many common features with recent and
  modern humans
• Saw their cultures change as a result of the same
  processes that change cultures today

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Linguistic Anthropology

• Focuses on the role language plays in human life
• Language is
• Learned by individuals as they grow up within a
  group
• Passed on from generation to generation
• The primary means by which a human learns his/her
  culture
• Constantly changing

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Biological Anthropology(akaPhysical
Anthropology)

• Focuses on humans as biological organisms
• Biological organisms
• Have similar features and needs
• Are the products of evolutionary and
  environmental forces
• Are genetically unique

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Four-Field Anthropology

• Cultural Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Biological (or Physical) Anthropology
• Applied Anthropology(aka the fifth field)

the cultural fields
the biological field
making it relevant
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Anthropology is a Biocultural Discipline
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Biological Anthropology

• Humans are individual organisms whose patterns of
  thought, feeling, and activity are at least
  partially by the other humans with whom we
  interact
• An explicitly scientific field
• ? uses the tools of biology and other sciences

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The Six Steps to Humanness

• 4. speech
• 5. hunting
• 6. domesticated foods

• 1. bipedalism
• 2. non-honing canine
• 3. material culture and tools